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Re: If you're thinking about railfanning in Montana this fall...
Author: Bruce Kelly
Date: 10-03-2020 - 17:10
I returned to N Idaho earlier this week from a 10-day round trip to North Dakota. BTW, fall colors were already approaching their peak north of I-94 between the Badlands and Bismarck. Yellow just beginning to show at the higher elevations in MT, but barely anything yet along the Yellowstone.
No shortage of "social distancing" when you're the only person for miles around who might be standing next to a stretch of rural railroad. If you travel by SUV, van, or RV and have all your sleeping and eating accommodations with you, no problem. If you have to enter a motel, convenience store, or restaurant (take-out preferred), take reasonable precautions to protect yourself, others who are there, and those you are either traveling with or will return home to. Viral transfer at the gas station, with or without a sustained 30 mph wind, seems highly unlikely.
FYI, track gangs and work windows were in effect last week between Dickinson and Bismarck, ND; east of Big Timber, MT; and either side of Livingston. When I was there, traffic was allowed through during the first couple hours of daylight, then the gandies had the property until about mid-afternoon. Except for my first few days in the Badlands Sept 20-22, when it seemed like BNSF was pumping an unusually high number of trains through during daylight with no MofW interference, at least compared to my last three visits to that area.
No shortage of "social distancing" when you're the only person for miles around who might be standing next to a stretch of rural railroad. If you travel by SUV, van, or RV and have all your sleeping and eating accommodations with you, no problem. If you have to enter a motel, convenience store, or restaurant (take-out preferred), take reasonable precautions to protect yourself, others who are there, and those you are either traveling with or will return home to. Viral transfer at the gas station, with or without a sustained 30 mph wind, seems highly unlikely.
FYI, track gangs and work windows were in effect last week between Dickinson and Bismarck, ND; east of Big Timber, MT; and either side of Livingston. When I was there, traffic was allowed through during the first couple hours of daylight, then the gandies had the property until about mid-afternoon. Except for my first few days in the Badlands Sept 20-22, when it seemed like BNSF was pumping an unusually high number of trains through during daylight with no MofW interference, at least compared to my last three visits to that area.
